Panama Papers case: SC takes up JIT report, PML-N files objections

As the Supreme Court (SC) resumed hearing the Panama Papers case on Monday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and the Sharif family’s lawyers submitted separate objections to the “damning” final report of the joint investigation team (JIT) that probed allegations of money laundering against the Sharif family.

A three-member apex bench, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, and comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Hassan, began hearing the case as it returned to the SC after nearly two months.

In the objections filed separately before the SC, the Sharif family and the finance minister rejected the JIT report and argued that the team had exceeded its mandate.

PTI counsel’s arguments
Putting forward his arguments before the apex bench, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) lead counsel Naeem Bukhari highlighted certain findings from the JIT report, including the alleged false testimony of Tariq Shafi, who is Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s cousin and a key respondent in the case.

Shafi recorded a false testimony [before the JIT] regarding an agreement that he made in 1980 with Abdullah Kayed Ahli, the owner of Ahli Steel Company, Dubai in which Shafi held 25 per cent shares, said Bukhari.

According to Shafi’s testimony, under the agreement signed at the time of the sale of the Sharif family’s Gulf Steel Mills, Shafi’s shares in Ahli’s company were sold and a net aggregate sum of 12million dirhams was agreed upon.

Shafi stated that he had deposited the massive sum with Sheikh Fahad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani of Qatar, after receiving each instalment from Mohammad Abdullah Kayed Ahli.

The JIT sought legal assistance from the United Arab Emirates [in conducting its investigations] and found that the transaction of 12 million dirhams never took place, Bukhari said.

“It was claimed that the Gulf Steel Mills were sold for 33million dirhams,” Bokhari said, arguing that this was not the case and the Sharif family had been unable to clear its position regarding the mills.

“According to the JIT, the funds for investment in Qatar were not available [to the Sharif family],” Justice Ijazul Hassan observed.